


Growler

by bookwyrm



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Valkyrie lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 03:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5148602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwyrm/pseuds/bookwyrm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by <a href="http://iphysnikephoros.tumblr.com/post/132586264001/fadagaski-furiroad-what-if-furiosa-digs-up">this post on tumblr.</a></p><p>They find the jugs in a wreck the blowing winds uncovered. It’s been buried in a dune for... who knows how long. The glass itself would be a prize, huge and perfectly round from before the collapse, stamped with some kinda brandlogo: HOT LIPS. One has shattered and another is empty, but there are three more full, corks intact and wax spilled over to keep the liquid in. The empty one still smells faintly of alcohol, though the cork crumbles when she yanks it out, sharp fumes dissipating in the hot air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Growler

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise headcannons of the week: Either Gastown or the Citadel are big glass producers. Gastown has the fuel, but the Citadel has the plant ash. There's plenty of limestone around the south coast (someone else's speculative location for the Citadel). 
> 
> Also, bats! The Citadel would for sure have bats, which is really good because guano is a great fertilizer.

They find the jugs in a wreck the blowing winds uncovered. It’s been buried in a dune for... who knows how long. The glass itself would be a prize, huge and perfectly round from before the collapse, stamped with some kinda brandlogo: HOT LIPS. One has shattered and another is empty, but there are three more full, corks intact and wax spilled over to keep the liquid in. The empty one still smells faintly of alcohol, though the cork crumbles when she yanks it out, sharp fumes dissipating in the hot air.

They load them up in the cab and harness the wreck to the hauler. Not likely to get much beyond scrap metal, but even that’s not to be wasted.

The run home is quiet, just the wind kicking up again, lashing sand over her skin until she rolls up the window, creaking, the dented doorframe preventing it from rising all the way.

She leaves the broken glass shards in a careful tower in the hot chop; the Pipes will make something useful of them, grind off the sharp edges or melt them into new shapes in the furnace. The empty jug goes to the kitchens. They’ll be glad to get a container that hasn’t had something nasty stored in it.

Toast puts the bottles away in the back of a cabinet in her room, the space that is slowly growing to feel like “home” and not “cage”, where her wives all sleep in two big beds together, and they come and go as they please. She’s half-forgotten them two months later when Cheedo pulls one out, frowning with curiosity first at the bottle and then at Toast, and the motion catches the Dag’s eye where she’s talking with Capable, and the sudden quiet makes Capable turn to look. “Alcohol, maybe. I found them. I thought, next time they’re back,” and the others are nodding, anticipation lighting their faces. Furiosa and Valkyrie always bring things back to them. It will be nice to have a surprise waiting for them, aside from the ongoing surprise of their survival.

 

They drive up in the mid-morning, sun baking down overhead. The most obvious surprise is Max, peeling sunburns across his cheeks and nose but otherwise intact. The next is five birds, speckled with desert red and sand and black. The Valkyrie calls them ‘chicking’ and they cluck and mutter in their cages. There are other things, seeds and oil and parts. When they leave again, they’ll take water and other seeds and long-lasting food for trade, whatever there is an excess of.

 

They gather that evening up in the high garden. Toast pries the cork out of the first jug, tips it out into everyone’s cup. Zel sits up straighter, white hair gleaming in the last light. “Used to be, we’d drink a toast. A toast to Toast.” She knocks her cup against other cups, knuckles, leans over to tap Furiosa’s knee, sips a first cautious taste, laughs. “Mead, I think. From honey.” Her sister leans against her shoulder, sighs. “Oh, honey. Maybe someday we’ll have bees.”

There’s silence for a moment, just the sound of wind in the produce and bats zickering overhead. Furiosa settles back into the Valkyrie’s embrace. Capable unwinds herself from Cheedo to pour refills, reaching over Toast where she’s pillowed against their thighs. The Dag is lying prone with her arm in the air, absently tracing constellations, until Cheedo puts a hand out and they tangle their fingers together. 

Max pours the third measure, a generous hand with the sweet-sharp drink. Cheedo is giggling softly, bent over Toast's face. She doesn't pull back fast enough when Toast sits up, and their foreheads crack together. Toast collapses back to the ground with a groan, which sets off Valkyrie and Capable in gales of laughter. Cheedo slowly keels over to bury her face in the Dag's side. There's the momentary warning of an indrawn breath, and then the Dag is squirming away with a hissed _rust you!_ and Cheedo laughs and snorts and laughs, bent over and ribcage heaving. 

Zel and Muriel are murmuring to each other, and Max has his head tilted towards them to catch bits of their conversation, but his eyes are unfocused and soft. Valkyrie puts her chin on Furiosa's shoulder, and Furiosa plants a kiss on her temple. 

 

The bottle is empty and the sky has long since faded to full dark. Furiosa and Valkyrie break away first, staggering to their feet and sloping off down the stairs, followed by Muriel and Zel murmuring their goodnights. Max vanishes without a word, and at last the four wives totter back to their room, giggling and shushing each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Chickens: Two roosters and three hens, which isn't an ideal breeding population but hopefully they can get more to trade and expand the gene pool. 
> 
> I set this several years after the movie. I think Furiosa and Valkyrie stayed for a long time and got things running, but eventually Furiosa just needed to get away. 
> 
> The mead they're drinking is mine - Hot Lips Pizza sells soda in growlers, which, emptied and washed, are a convenient container for homebrew.


End file.
